Football: Northland edges Beechcroft to wrap up City-North championship
Thursday, October 19, 2023
By Jarrod Ulrey
julrey@cbussports.com
Beechcroft’s Jaymir Radford looks for running room against visiting Northland on Oct. 19. The Vikings’ Te’Veon Brown (23) helps out on the tackle. Photo: John Hulkenberg
The memory of what happened two years ago against Beechcroft still was fresh on the minds of some of the members of the Northland football team following the latest meeting between the programs.
With a chance to wrap up the first home playoff game in program history as well as the outright City League-North Division championship Thursday, the visiting Vikings received a boost from their special teams and used a determined running game to win 27-20.
With 3 minutes, 30 seconds remaining, Northland’s Tyreke Lewis recovered a muffed punt at the Beechcroft 40.
The Vikings then handed it to senior standout running back Amir Brown six consecutive times, including when he ran six yards to the Beechcroft 1-yard line on first-and-goal.
On the next play, junior quarterback Alex Neff – in just his second game as the starter after the Vikings lost senior Charles Woodfork Jr. to injury – ran in from 1 yard with 21 seconds to go for the game-winning score.
In 2021, Northland had two chances to score the game-winning touchdown after getting to the Cougars’ 1-yard line but were unable to complete the task as Beechcroft held on to secure the league title.
Northland’s Zion Moffett runs the ball against host Beechcroft on Oct. 19. Photo: John Hulkenberg
“Tonight we said that if we get to that 1-yard line, we’re going in,” coach Ryan Sayers said. “It’s unbelievable, right? My first year, we don’t play for any championship. My second year, we lose the title, then we tie for the title last year. Then in my fourth year, it’s all ours and we make history. But these seniors all did a great job.”
Northland, which went a combined 11-15 during Sayers’ first three seasons, are 9-1 overall and finished 6-0 in the City-North. The Vikings will await their Division II, Region 7 playoff matchup.
Beechcroft, which tied the Vikings and Columbus East for last year’s league title, dropped to 4-6 but still has hopes of making the Division III, Region 11 playoffs.
“We’ve been through a lot of injuries,” Cougars coach Humphrey Simmons said. “You never want to make excuses because it’s next man up, but they did show a lot of heart. Hats off to Northland having only a one-loss season.”
Beechcroft senior Rosean Burns ran in from 2 yards midway through the third quarter, but quarterback Aurelius Scott threw incomplete on a shuffle pass on the two-point conversion as the Vikings led 14-12.
Northland’s Zion Moffett returned the ensuing kickoff 75 yards to the Cougars’ 10, and Neff ran in from 1 yard five plays later to make it 20-12.
Northland’s Malakai Hammond (70) works to stop Beechcroft’s Olaoluwa Obayemi (3) on Oct. 19. Photo: John Hulkenberg
The Cougars, however, answered with a touchdown drive that included a 33-yard pass from Scott to Jaymir Radford. Three plays later, Scott connected with Khalil Samuels for a 16-yard touchdown and Burns ran in for the two-point conversion to tie it at 20.
“Two years ago we (couldn’t score) on the 1-yard line, so it was a statement game,” Brown said. “We didn’t do any talking. We just came to play. Everybody is happy and knows what we had to do. Last year we were 5-5, but we all knew this time was coming.”
It’s the best season for Northland since 2018 when it last posted a winning record and won its last outright league title. That year, the Vikings lost their first two games by a combined four points and won their final eight but settled for 12th in Region 7.
The Vikings are on a similar march this fall considering they lost their opener 22-21 to Walnut Ridge on Aug. 18 but haven’t lost since.
Also for Northland, Brown and Mahari Bowles scored one first-half touchdown apiece and freshman kicker Amara Jah went 3-for-4 on extra points, including making two while slipping on the wet ground.
“It feels great,” said Neff, who had been serving only as backup quarterback and holder until taking over as the starter behind center for the Vikings’ 37-12 win over Whetstone on Oct. 13. “I’ve been dreaming about this moment since last year when we had to split the (league) championship. It’s ours tonight.”